Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and its affect on Jewish communities around the world.
COVID-19
The Latest
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The Schmooze At the VMAs, Jewish rapper Doja Cat reminded us that flirting used to be a thing
Just imagine: It’s a Saturday night and you’re waiting in line for a club while cheek-kissing friends outside your pod and showing off a skin-tight dress whose “pockets” accommodate neither hand sanitizer nor nitrile gloves. The bouncer handles all your belongings and admits with nary a body scan or temperature check. Once inside, you share…
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Life ‘It’s not the same’: Jewish campus life goes virtual
(JTA) — When Abigail Adams decided to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she thought she would spend the Friday nights of her first year there at Shabbat dinners on campus with other Jewish students, building a close-knit group of friends. By the time Adams moved into her dorm earlier this month,…
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Life How to get the most out of virtual High Holiday services
If you’re planning to attend High Holiday services virtually, like thousands of American Jews, welcoming the new year might seem easier than ever before. There’s no need to wriggle into pantyhose, find parking, or put up with your in-laws at dinner. In fact, all you need to do is roll out of bed, turn on…
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Community Jewish tribalism leaves some Jews out
In my decade doing interfaith work as a representative of the Jewish community, I often explained to my interlocutors that many (if not most) American Jews are concerned more with belonging than believing. For most of us, I said, the experience of being a member of the community — belonging to the Jewish people —…
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Community Is coronavirus a reason to skip the bris?
My son and daughter had a joint bar and bat mitzvah a few months into the Covid-19 pandemic. The service took place in our temple and was broadcast on Zoom. On the bema, our rabbi stood apart from our immediate family and just a few congregation staffers were physically present. Everyone else, including grandparents, watched…
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News Chicago’s Federation nailed its COVID-19 response. Now it wants other cities to follow its lead.
More than half a year into the global COVID-19 pandemic, much of the world is still figuring out how to adapt to a new way of doing things, including attending religious services, going to school, shopping and eating. But one Jewish community is reporting remarkable success in how it helps local organizations meet their community’s…
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Community What will you write in the Book of Life?
For more than two decades, we have served as congregational rabbis in some of the largest synagogues in the United States. We’ve faced all sorts of challenges throughout our careers but we’ve never experienced anything like the present moment. Just a few months before the COVID-19 pandemic led to stay-at-home orders in our communities, the…
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Fast Forward Brooklyn Jewish officials warn of new COVID cases amid rising fear of a second wave
(JTA) – With cases of COVID-19 rising over the last several weeks in Orthodox communities in the New York City area, a synagogue in Brooklyn and a Jewish ambulance group issued warnings for people to continue taking precautions against the virus. Hatzoloh of Rockland County, which serves a number of large Orthodox communities in Monsey,…
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Fast Forward Why neo-Nazis marched in Ohio this weekend, and almost every weekend in the US
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Opinion The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
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Opinion Just about every interpretation of Trump’s narrow election victory is wrong
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News Texas schools want to add Queen Esther to the curriculum. Here’s why Jews (and many Christians) are opposed.
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Fast Forward Three arrested in murder of rabbi in United Arab Emirates; Israel denounces ‘despicable antisemitic act’
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News Trump promised peace in the Middle East. Will his 2020 plan be the blueprint?
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Fast Forward Rep. Ritchie Torres, outspoken pro-Israel advocate, is dropping hints that he could run for NY governor
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Fast Forward Ursula Haverbeck, infamous German Holocaust denier known as ‘Nazi grandma,’ dies at 96
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